Tag: customer service

Why You Should Encourage Customers to Share Their Experiences

Posted on by AnaBerestean

Many business owners are reluctant to encourage customers to talk about their experiences. Everyone’s heard horror stories about a one-off negative testimonial that never seemed to go away no matter how many satisfied customers share their thoughts. Unfortunately, this fear keeps companies from tapping into the plethora of benefits that come with customers talking about their experiences.

 

6 Reasons to Encourage Customer Testimonials

1.    See what customers really think.

As a business owner, you’re always looking for ways to improve your services and products to keep customers happy. But, when’s the last time you went straight to the source to gauge how clients felt about your business? If you’re like most companies, it’s probably been a while. A customer testimonial – positive or negative – is an invaluable piece of information. It tells you what your business is doing right, what it’s doing wrong, and how it can improve.

2.    Boost brand exposure.

Customer testimonials can also help to increase brand awareness across the internet. Every piece of online content that mentions your business boosts its online exposure including customer testimonials. Google prefers companies that have a lot of testimonials, interaction with real people, and authentic content. Each testimonial that mentions your business’s name will increase the likelihood of it showing up in relevant searches.

3.    Improve customer service.

Better customer service is a greatly overlooked benefit of having customers share their experiences. People love when companies are eager to hear about their thoughts whether they’re positive or negative. On top of that, having consistent testimonials makes it easier to detect repeated issues with your business’s customer experience. This way, you have the insights needed to consistently improve customer service overall.

4.    Increase customer loyalty.

Customers place a premium on businesses that actively seek out their thoughts, questions, and concerns. It adds a level of trustworthiness and authenticity that most companies simply don’t offer to clients. When you actively encourage customers to share their experiences no matter what, it can help to increase customer loyalty. People will always prefer to work with a business that cares what they think.

5.    Get ahead of problems.

No amount of effort, due diligence, or investment can guarantee every single customer has an awesome experience. Regardless of who’s at fault, minor issues will arise from time to time. It might sound counterintuitive, but businesses are better off having customers share their negative thoughts rather than crossing their fingers or ignoring the problem. This way, you have an opportunity to get ahead of the issue before it blows up.

6.    Gain more control.

Motivated customers are going to find a way to share their experiences online with or without your encouragement. When you actively encourage it, you have greater control over where those thoughts are shared. Businesses can free themselves from the stranglehold of popular review sites like Google or Yelp by directing their customers to share their experiences on a preferred platform.

 

Harness the power of customer testimonials.

A lot of the hesitancy business owners feel about customer reviews stems from the lack of control they have over sites like Google and Yelp. These popular sites make it nearly impossible for you to keep up with reviews or reach out to customers to rectify issues. Everything is completely out of reach. That’s where hapigood comes into play.

This game-changing software puts businesses back in the driver’s seat of their reputation. It allows companies to harness the power of customer testimonials by offering greater control, avoiding the constraints of Big Tech, and simplifying the process overall.

Tired of having no control over what customers say about your business online? You’re not alone! This is something businesses in all industries struggle with on a daily basis. Now, there’s a solution. Hapigood gives you control over your business’s online reputation by putting all reviews in one convenient place. This allows you to respond to negative customer experiences and boost positive testimonials. Contact us today to learn more about what we offer and how your business can benefit.

How Reviews Can Improve Your Company’s Relationship with Customers

Posted on by AnaBerestean

Customer relations is a foundational aspect of running a successful business, especially for small-to-medium-size companies with less exposure than their larger rivals. A business’s relationship with its clients has an impact on everything from conversion rates and reputation to marketing success and so much more. Although focusing on high-quality products and services can improve customer relations, there are other important components to take into account. Here, we’ll explore the various ways reviews can improve your company’s relationship with clients.

 

It’s an accurate measure of customer satisfaction.

A key to optimizing customer relations is knowing how customers feel. If you have a well-defined and accurate understanding of how your current and potential clients perceive your business, you’re in a better position to improve the experience. You’ll know what you’re doing right, what needs some tweaking, and what you should get rid of altogether. Reviews are the single most effective way to gain a precise, real-time, and unfiltered understanding of customer satisfaction. It’s a great way to save time, energy, and money all while gaining an accurate gauge of how your customers feel.

 

Customers feel heard.

Whether you’re responding to positive or negative feedback, customers appreciate it when businesses interact with their comments. It shows that you genuinely value their opinion and eagerly want to improve your business. Engaging with great feedback reinforces the client’s positive experience and encourages them to continue working with your business. On the other hand, responding to constructive feedback shows clients that you take their concerns seriously and want to solve the problem. In both scenarios, the customer will feel heard and understood which increases the likelihood they’ll decide to work with you again.

 

Reviews can improve customer service.

The benefit of client feedback on customer relations isn’t just limited to positive reviews. In fact, some of the best changes can come from critical reviews. While positive feedback is great for building reputation, loyalty, and awareness, it does little in way of improving how your business operates. Conversely, critical reviews highlight areas where your business is falling short in the customer experience. Addressing these issues can drastically improve your company’s relationship with existing and future customers. The trick is seeing critical reviews as opportunities for improvement instead of an attack or threat to your business.

 

Potential customers love client testimonials.

People spend hours, days, and sometimes even weeks researching a business before spending their money. With customer testimonials influencing 93% of purchasing choices, it’s clear what potential customers care about the most: reviews! Although it’s crucial to include information about your offerings and company online, you make it so much easier for potential clients to make an informed decision about your business by curating feedback from previous customers. It lends a level of credence that your brand can’t achieve alone. By simplifying the research process for clients who are on the fence, you’ll further improve your relationship with customers.

 

Why most review sites fail businesses.

Some of the biggest obstacles preventing businesses from making the most of customer feedback are actually the review sites themselves. Google, Yelp, and other conventional review platforms severely limit the control businesses have over their client feedback. Positive reviews aren’t properly bolstered for potential customers and critical reviews aren’t effectively channeled to resolve issues that arise That’s where hapigood comes into play!

 

This one-of-a-kind customer review and reputation management platform is designed to put businesses back in the driver’s seat when it comes to client feedback. hapigood makes it easier for businesses to source reviews, promote positive testimonials, respond to negative client experiences, and reap all the myriad benefits of customer feedback.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about what hapigood can offer and how your business can benefit, contact us today. We’re already helping a host of small businesses improve their review and reputation management. Your business should be next!

7 Tips for Boosting the Number of Customer Reviews for Your Business

Posted on by AnaBerestean

Customer reviews are a powerful tool that can help your business boost online exposure, improve reputation, perfect customer service, build loyalty, and so much more. The more reviews you have, the more potent the benefits. If you’ve been struggling to get customers to share their experiences, follow these 7 tips to open the testimonial floodgates.

 

1.   Ask for reviews.

The first step to boosting customer reviews is to ask for…well, reviews. That’s a painfully obvious starting point, but it’s also painfully underutilized. A whopping 70% of customers are more than happy to leave a review if a business asks. That’s right! Simply requesting a review can elevate the number of client testimonials your business curates. Most customers aren’t actively deciding to NOT leave a review. Instead, it’s not something that crosses their minds. A request is all the nudge most clients need to share their thoughts.

 

2.   Catch customers right after their purchase.

Recency is critical when encouraging customers to leave reviews. Generally, people are more motivated to leave a testimonial right after working with your business. As more time passes, that eagerness gradually decreases. The trick is to catch clients immediately after buying a product or paying for a service. This immediate follow-up increases the likelihood they’ll share feedback and ensures they remember specific details about what made the experience so great.

 

3.   Give a specific time.

Time is one of the top reasons customers refuse to leave feedback even after a positive customer experience. When presented with an open-ended request for a review, clients are uneasy about dedicating an undisclosed amount of time to leave a testimonial. This problem is easily solved by offering a fair heads-up about how long it will take to write a review. You can say something like “Take a few minutes to fill out…” or “It’ll only take 2 minutes to complete…”. A little transparency can go a long way.

 

4.   Offer the possibility of anonymity.

Some people are skeptical of sharing online reviews because they don’t want their information shared online. You can ease this concern by making it clear to potential reviewers that none of their personal info will get shared. Furthermore, you can allow a customer to omit their last or full name from the review, depending on their privacy preferences. You’ll be giving customers peace of mind knowing their information is protected while still getting the real reviews you need to improve your business.

 

5.   Ask for emails at checkout.

Despite the variety of modern marketing channels, email is still among the most effective methods of communicating with customers. In fact, 72% of consumers prefer email as their primary source of contact with businesses. What relevance does that have for customer reviews? Well, collecting emails during the checkout process – whether that’s in-person or online – is a great way to send follow-up review requests. It’s easy to implement, and there’s no burden on customers. Plus, you’re building an email list at the same time which will come in handy for marketing efforts.

 

6.   Offer an incentive for reviews.

Everyone loves free stuff, especially after spending money. Offering even a small thank-you for a review can considerably increase the number of clients willing to share their experiences. Coupons or gift cards for future businesses are an excellent strategy as you’re securing a review while encouraging customers to come back and spend more money with you. Be sure to make these incentives prominent so customers know what they’ll get in return.

 

7.   Use powerful review management software.

The unsung hero of an effective customer review strategy is a committed management system. Google, Yelp, and other common review sites fail to give businesses the oversight and management needed to make the most of reviews. hapigood, on the other hand, helps businesses curate, manage, and publish customer feedback in an organized, effective, and scalable manner. It funnels all reviews to one, convenient location where businesses can figure out the most appropriate way to utilize them.

 

If your business is struggling to get the most out of customer reviews, contact us today to learn more about how hapigood can help.

 

 

How Customer Reviews Can Improve a Small Business’s Reputation

Posted on by AnaBerestean

As a small business, reputation is one of the most effective tools you have for maintaining current customers and attracting new ones. Every positive customer experience has the power to improve how people view your company. The more positive things people hear about your business, the higher the likelihood they’ll use your service or buy your products. There are plenty of ways businesses can boost their reputation, but customer reviews are among the most powerful. Unfortunately, they’re often overlooked or underutilized. Let’s look at some ways testimonials can improve your business’s reputation.

 

Customers want to be heard.

In a world of outsourced call centers, endless dial tones, and faceless customer service, customers are craving to be heard. Small businesses are actually at an advantage here when compared to large corporations that constantly search for ways to spend less at the expense of customer experience. Small businesses that actually encourage customers to share their thoughts will instantly stand out. It might seem like a small gesture, but it means a lot to customers who constantly feel as though their opinions don’t matter to companies This can create improved customer relationships overall.

 

Reviews build brand awareness.

A whopping 95% of people read customer reviews before spending their money with a business. This is how a company with decades of experience and better products can lose out to an inferior company with more reviews. A small business with a significant number of customer testimonials online is instantly viewed as more trustworthy and higher quality than the competition. A wealth of customer testimonials describing the amazing experience clients had when working with your business lends a level of credence that’s difficult to achieve in other ways.

 

They improve customer service.

Many small businesses fear that a single negative review will eviscerate everything they’ve done to keep clients satisfied. When handled properly, negative reviews can actually work to boost customer service instead of harming it. The key is to get in front of critical reviews before they’re broadcasted to the world so you have a chance to resolve them. Businesses that can reach out to customers who had a negative experience will develop a reputation of being proactive, helpful, and caring. Contrary to popular belief, negative reviews are a great opportunity to gain a happy and loyal customer. Which brings us to the next point.

 

Testimonials instill brand loyalty.

Most small businesses rely heavily on repeat customers for their success. As a result, the value of customer testimonials isn’t limited to their ability to convert new customers. When leveraged properly, customer feedback can establish, solidify, and increase brand loyalty among your business’s current clientele base. People are going to feel more comfortable spending their money again with businesses that openly and actively encourage reviews from customers. This commitment to quality is mirrored by an increased customer loyalty that makes a business even more attractive to potential clients.

 

They boost business SEO.

There are countless factors that determine how high your business ranks on search engines. One of the most overlooked and powerful drivers of high ranking is actually customer reviews. When curated effectively, every customer testimonial has the potential to become a unique piece of content. And the more relevant content your business publishes, the higher it shows up on search results. On top of that, Google prefers to show potential customers reputable and authentic businesses. Real customer reviews can prove to search engines that your business is dependable and real.

 

Are you having a tough time making the most of customer reviews? You’re in the right place! hapigood is a one-of-a-kind customer reputation and review management solution that puts business owners like you back in the driver’s seat. Instead of keeping client feedback out of your control, hapigood brings testimonials back into your sphere of influence where they can be properly handled and curated. Feel free to contact us today to learn more about what we offer.

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